How to Get Your Favicon to Show in Google Search Results

To get your favicon to show in Google results, use a square image whose size is a multiple of 48 pixels, link it from your homepage with a link tag, keep the file crawlable and keep its address stable. Google may take time to update, and it can decline to show images it considers inappropriate.

Google’s main requirements

The favicon and the homepage must both be crawlable.
The image should be square, with a size that is a multiple of 48 pixels, such as 48 by 48 or 96 by 96.
The file format can be common types such as PNG, ICO or SVG.
The address of the file should be stable and not change often.

How to declare it

<link rel="icon" href="/favicon-96.png" sizes="96x96">

Place the tag in the head of the homepage.

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Design tips

Make it simple and recognisable at a very small size. A bold shape or letter works better than a detailed logo. Check how it looks on both light and dark backgrounds.

If it does not appear

Open the file address and confirm it loads.
Check robots.txt is not blocking it. Test with the robots.txt tester.
Confirm the homepage has the link tag.
Request a recrawl of the homepage using the URL Inspection tool.

Be patient

Changes can take days or weeks to show. Google also decides whether to show a favicon at all, for example if it looks inappropriate or misleading.

Frequently asked questions

Does a favicon affect rankings?

No, but it helps people recognise your result.

Do subdomains need their own?

Each host is treated separately, so check each one.

Next steps

See how to get sitelinks, or contact me here.

More in this series (search snippet questions): start with Free SERP Snippet Preview, then explore: